Rugby is an extremely popular game in many parts of the world. The game demands a lot of physical contact, and has many facets of play.
The group of players known as the forwards, commonly wearing numbers 1-8, are particularly involved in areas of play known as scrummaging, line outs, mauls and rucks, as well as forms of running play.
The scrummage (the scrum) is a facet of set play in which the forwards, the "tight" 5 in particular, must bind together in a formation, facing the oppositions forwards in the same formation, the two forward packs coming together in an effort to push the other of the ball and gain possession.
The nature of the serum is such that the player's body positions are very low in a crouch position with their heads and backs being horizontal. As is the current practice, the tight 5, that is, the two props, the hooker and two locks, bind together by securing a section of their teammate's rugby jersey with their hands in a convenient place, and pulling it tight.
It is important that the binding is strong, as should one of the tight 5 lose their grip on the jersey they are holding onto, the scrum may become unbound, lose collective pushing power, or the scrum may collapse.
It is the latter situation that is fraught with the most danger. The danger arises particularly in the front row where, should the scrum collapse, the front row players heads are inevitably forced into the ground.
This has resulted in many injuries to players, the most severe being broken necks causing permanent paralysis, or even death. The hooker is in a particularly vulnerable position as he or she has no way of reducing the force against the ground due to both of the hooker's arms being positioned on the backs of the props.
In today's play with the modified rules, the flankers, namely number 6 and number 7 jerseys, are involved more in the pushing force of the scrum. This is because previously the flankers merely had to be in contact with the scrum resulting in the flankers merely keeping their hands on the scrum, waiting for the ball to pop out the side. As it is now required for the ball to emerge from the scrum behind the lock's feet, it is more advantageous that the flankers bind properly and aid in the pushing of the scrum. Consequently their grip must be also be firm.
The main reason why players lose grip of the jersey is that it becomes too much of a strain for their hands and wrists to hold onto a section of bare jersey while the scrum is moving about. This could be due to the range of gripping strength of the players, the playing conditions, it being harder to grip when it is cold or wet or both, or the jersey may be pulled too tight to obtain a quality hold.
During facets of play such as rucks and mauls, it is advantageous for a team to be well bound, and low in body position, in order to push the other team's forwards closer to their goal line. Again, the binding is usually obtained by securing a teammate's jersey. The tighter and more secure the grip, the more effective the body position and safer the facet of play.
What would be of great advantage is a rugby jersey that enables faster, easier, and a stronger binding to other players, and that reduces the risk of players becoming unbound during facets of play in which they are required to be bound or in which it is safer to be bound.
It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.
Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only.